N.Y. woman dies after Bennington car crash
Toolbox
Published: November 5, 2009
BENNINGTON — A New York woman died Tuesday after her car hit a utility pole on Ore Bed Road, although it was unclear whether her death was a direct result of the crash.
Raechel L. Lathrop, 33, of North Petersburgh, N.Y., walked away from the crash, which took place around 5:30 p.m.
Bennington Police Sgt. Lloyd Dean said there was no outward evidence of injuries from the crash but Lathrop soon collapsed on the lawn of a nearby home.
She seemed to be coherent while speaking to a Bennington police officer and bystanders, but she became overcome by seizures, Dean said.
Lathrop was taken to Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington and went into cardiac arrest in the Bennington Rescue Squad ambulance. She died in the emergency room of the hospital, according to Dean.
Police believe Lathrop was driving west on Ore Bed Road when her 1996 Lincoln Town Car went left of the center of the road, off the road and hit a utility pole. No other cars were involved in the crash.
Speed was not a factor in the crash and there is "no evidence at all" of alcohol or drug use, said Dean, who is the Bennington Police Department's crash investigator.
On Wednesday afternoon, Dean said he hadn't received the results of an autopsy performed earlier in the day.
Lathrop worked locally at Pembroke Landscaping.
Dean asked that anyone who may have witnessed the crash, especially anyone who stopped to assist, call him at the Bennington Police Department at 442-1030.
The Bennington Rural Fire Department assisted at the crash site.
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